AlpTextyles - Collaborative solutions for a heritage & consumer sensitive relocalization of sustainable, circular, and innovative Alpine textile value chains
Principal Investigator at ZRC SAZU
Katarina Šrimpf Vendramin, PhD-
Acronym
AlpTextyles
Project Team
Špela Ledinek Lozej, PhD, Ingrid Slavec Gradišnik, PhD, Saša Poljak Istenič, PhD-
Duration
1 November 2022–31 October 2025 -
SICRIS
SICRIS -
Lead Partner
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Project Leader
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Financial Source
Interreg Alpine Space
Alptextyles poject site: https://www.alpine-space.eu/project/alptextyles/
Partners
ZRC SAZU, EM Lyon, Razvojna agencija Sora
Supported by the European Union through the Interreg Alpine Space Programme: €2,979,694, with ERDF grants totaling €1,970,770.
Link: AlpTextyles
Textile value chains need an urgent change being one of the most polluting sectors with a massive potential for CO2 reduction. The Alps have a rich textile heritage with specific aesthetics & knowhow based on values of circularity&sensitivity to local resources (e.g. wool, linen, dyeing plants). Now that consumers are critical of products from globalised value chains & increasingly desire living sustainable lifestyles, such heritage could contribute to re-territorialise Alpine textile value chains, long disrupted by global sourcing & the offshoring of production, thus boosting natural local resources, projecting an attractive image capable of justifying the higher prices of Alpine products & fostering regional development & jobs creation. AlpTextyles will develop collaborative solutions accelerating the relocalisation of sustainable, circular Alpine textile value chains sensitive to natural&cultural resources and capturing consumers’ desire for postcarbon lifestyles, thus improving cross-border cooperation. These will include:
- Orientation guides helping firms to innovate in a heritage-sensitive & circular manner
- Toolkits helping cultural institutions safeguard textile heritage
- Policy brief addressing the EU strategy for sustainable textiles & forthcoming geographical indications for heritage products, EUSALP action plans & regional authorities’ policies;
- MOOC raising awareness & building capacity on Alpine textile heritage and its circular future.
AlpTextyles is innovative as it brings to the table of Alpine cooperation:
- a relevant so far neglected discussion about textile heritage in Alps;
- generates insights on consumers' desire to dress in a more CO2 neutral manner & perceived image/willingness to pay for Alpine products;
- builds a case for cross-border cooperation, normally hindered by policies fostering 100% local/national value chains;
- combines cultural & business expertise generating counter-intuitive cross-sectoral recommendations for agricultural, industrial & cultural policy.
- Mapping textile heritage & circularity in textile Alpine value chains to prepare pilots & solutions
- Working with textile stakeholders to test and evaluate circular & heritage-sensitive solutions
- Transferring circular and heritage-sensitive solutions to the textile ecosystem